


Dreaming

by Bil



Series: Faces [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23852377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bil/pseuds/Bil
Summary: You dream of Nargles and Heliotropes because it hurts less to dream of ridiculous things than it does to dream of impossible things and you need something to fill that huge, unfillable gap left by the absence of something you can't do without. You would rather spend your days tiring yourself out looking for Erumpents than spend your nights dreaming of death (and shock and fading light).
Series: Faces [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722553
Kudos: 6





	Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters herein all belong to JKR.

You dream of Nargles and Heliotropes because it hurts less to dream of ridiculous things than it does to dream of impossible things and you need something to fill that huge, unfillable gap left by the absence of something you can't do without. You would rather spend your days tiring yourself out looking for Erumpents than spend your nights dreaming of death (and shock and fading light).

Maybe it should hurt that people laugh at you, but really you hardly even notice. After all, they're too young to know better and you can't blame children for their ignorance even if they've lived a hundred years. You don't know how old _you_ are, but you are sure it's very old. You barely remember being young.

There are too many other faces around you to notice the ones that are laughing anyway. The wizards think only the magical dead leave ghosts, but you know better. Ghosts are everywhere, Muggle and magic, living and dead, drifting through the 'real' people until sometimes you forget which is which. Long-gone children run through the corridors of Hogwarts; prior teachers stand next to the current professors and their lectures overlap to the point of confusion.

But it isn't only at Hogwarts that you see them. The streets of London throng with more people than they can possibly hold; the North Devon Downs spill out with people who can’t see each other, each seeking a solitude you cannot comprehend. The ghosts are everywhere. That's why you don't spend holidays at home, why you and your dad go chasing Snorkaks and Jackalopes all around the world.

Because _she_ is at home, every day. Her ghost, eating breakfast or washing dishes, drifting through your life as if she is still a part of it. The ghost of her in her lab, laughing, experimenting – dying.

They told you at her funeral that those who love us never truly leave us.

You wish they were wrong.

_Fin_


End file.
